“We always wash the prisoners down,” said the sheriff quickly. “Vermin, ye ken. Dinnae want them in here.”
A lie, Callum thought, and looked at Bethoc, but she just smiled at him and said, “Ye are looking verra fine.”
“Thank ye. I decided it was time to be a laird again. Doesnae appear to be working as I had hoped,” he added in a whisper, “and I mean to find out why. There is something amiss here, something bigger than we can see right now.”
“Weel, while ye are doing that, mayhap ye find out what ye can about Laurel MacKray accused of killing her husband. And, nay, I dinnae think she did it, but he is dead and her land is forfeit to the magistrate. They have been verra hard on her in here.”
“Is she that pile of rags o’er there in the corner?”
“Aye. She went that way the moment she heard ye approaching. She does it whene’er she hears anyone approach.”
“That is enough whispering,” snapped the sheriff. “Ye can talk so all can hear. I will have nay conspiring with the prisoner.”
“I mean to get ye out of here, Bethoc.” Callum ceased whispering but talked softly nonetheless. “Robbie has gone to get a friend of the Murrays who can help.”
“How long do ye think that will take?” Bethoc had no wish to see what would happen to her after the fourth dunking in the water barrel.
“He told me the mon was close at hand so nay too long. And now that Magnus has told us what the men who did it look like, I can watch for them as weel. Though I did give a fairly good description of them myself.”
A ray of hope shone in her heart and refused to be snuffed out. “The sheriff willnae like that. Any fool could see it would be nigh on impossible for me to do it but I dinnae think he cares who did the killing at all.”
“Nay, I dinnae either. If Robbie brings who he is after, I am thinking more than the sheriff will find themselves in a pile of trouble.” Out of the corner of his eye he caught the man nudging closer in the hopes of catching every word. “So, hold on, Bethoc,” he said clearly. “Ye will be out of here soon.” He turned toward the sheriff. “I would suggest it might be verra wise to be certain she is treated weel.” Before the sheriff could answer, Callum walked out.
The boys ran up to the cell and grinned at her. “I told him,” said Magnus, pointing at the sheriff, “what they all looked like so he will go after them now. Then ye can be free.”
Bethoc could tell by the sheriff’s face that he had no intention of following that plan but she did not tell the boys. She took care to reassure them as well as she could. Then gave them each a kiss and sent them on their way, watching as they ran up the stairs, Uven right behind them. She had to smile for she doubted Callum’s cousin had ever expected to be made a child tender. Then she looked at the sheriff and froze. The look the man gave her did not bode well for him obeying Callum’s order to treat her kindly. Bethoc hoped Callum could work fast with all the new information he had.
“Your laird doesnae rule o’er this village, woman. Nay matter how weel ye pleasure the fool, he never will.” The sheriff smiled in a way that was definitely not friendly and marched off, his guards staying close.
“Was that your mon?”
Bethoc jumped a little in surprise as she turned around to look at Laurel. “I dinnae have a mon.”
Laurel laughed. “Och, ye certainly do. That was Margaret, aye?”
“Aye, that was my wee Margaret.”
“A beautiful wee lass, and she kens what she wants.”
Bethoc laughed as she moved closer to Laurel and sat down. “I need to keep a watch on that and get her to, er, soften her demands.” Laurel laughed. “She can be verra forceful.”
“Och, nay,” Laurel said, laughter still in her voice. “She just hasnae learned the correct ways to get what she wants when she wants it. Or how to properly show her anger and disgust with an oaf like our sheriff. She is a lass with wit and strength. It already shines in her. It just needs honing. The lads look to be fine little lads, as weel.”
“They are. These troubles have shown me that. They need more than working those lands for naught though and now it appears I may have lost them a chance to finally have that. They will lose the only home they have e’er kenned.”
“Ah, because it will be taken.”
“Aye, as yours was and, I suspicion, as those women who sadly hanged lost theirs.”
“Ye think this is something to do with the lands?”
“’Tis a thought and it would explain so much. Callum feels sure something else is going on here. He also thinks it might have to do with what is being forfeited by the women arrested.”
“It would have to be someone beside the sheriff though. And I cannae believe it of the magistrate. Dinnae ken the mon weel but he is said to be kind and just. This is neither.”
“Callum and his friends will sniff it out.”
The sound of heavy, slow steps quieted both of them. Bethoc watched Laurel disappear into a pile of rags again and wished she could do the same as William appeared at the door and smiled. She decided she loathed that smile and would like nothing more than to have the strength to wipe it off his face. When he opened the door and pulled her out, she prayed she faced no more than she had before. Terrifying though it was, it would not be death by the command of a foolish man she now suspected was trying to satisfy a greedy man.
